My last day in Goettingen: A Sad Good-bye to my amazing hostess, Biggi

Ga-ga for Luther (or: a silly pose at a fountain in Wittenberg!)

Luther's House!!!

Posing with Luther's favorite lady

This is the statue of Katherine von Bora, Luther's wife, which stands in the courtyard of Luther's house in Wittenberg

Door where Luther posted his 95 Theses

This is the famed Schloss Kirche in Wittenberg, of course this is not the original door as it was a wooden door and burned down in the Seven Year's War and was later replaced by this big old iron thing with each of the 95 Theses engraved into the door itself...

Luther's looking well fed, don't you think?!

Offensive note to the Jews on the outside of Luther's church

It really is incredible that they did this but as we all know the church always has and always will have things for which we are not proud of and for which we must apologize and work to counter in various ways...

Wittenbergs Stadtkirche: Where Luther Preached

Also where the people first received both bread and wine during communion and heard the sermon preached in their own language...

Shannon standing in front of the fountain at the castle

Anyone notice my new purse? Isn't it pretty? I got it while shopping in Paris! I like it a lot! ;-)

Wenigerode Schloss

We hiked up a little ways from town to get to see this castle. The grounds were impressive and the view of the land below was great. The parts of the castle we got to tour inside were quite ornate with rich furnishings and large rooms. My favorite was the grand dining room with its gigantic long table all set with the many dishes and glasses and silverware for different courses.

Fun with Naomi and Claire Wagner in Wenigerode

One of hundreds of butterflies we saw on our hike

Just some little wild flowers!!!!!

A peaceful path...

Hiking in the Harz mountains was just what I needed this weekend. I can hardly wait to get back to the PNW and do some more hiking!

Shannon and Merilee enjoying a day in nature!

Ooh, a cave bear!

Inside the Baumannshoele in Ruebeland in the Harzberge

Translation: In the Baumann cave in Rubeland in the Harz mountains of Germany. Oooh, seeing Germany from the inside out! You gotta love those stalagtites and stalagmites! Anyone else remember 4th grade geology and can tell me which ones are which? ;-)

My favorite German flowers (maybe they're not German...Keine Ahnung!)

These are the Nachtkerzen (night candles) that are all over in Biggi's backyard. One of my favorite past time in the evenings is hanging out on the patio and then between 8:30-9:30pm running around between all the Nachtkerzen plants watching the flowers open up. I feel like such a little observant scientist (something straight from the Nature Channel--you know it's bad when you make a movie of one of the opening), but really, God's creation is so cool!

Happy Shannon!

Here I am checking out the Tea Museum after a great brunch and successful tea shopping trip!

Tea, glorious tea! I was anxious to try it!

Ooh, la, la! I'm a happy camper! Fresh squeezed orange juice, Princeton Darjeeling tea, toast with yummy jelly, shrimp, smoked salmon salad and eggs. Oh, and lemon curd strawberry tart for dessert. It's good to have tea on Sunday in Paris!

Ahhh, Renoir's Le Moulin de la Gallette

Just one of many Impressionist paintings I got to see. So much fun!!!

Sacre Coeur at Montemarte

Ah the infamous gargoyles! Don't you love how he's sticking his tongue out!?

One of the many views from the towers of Notre Dame

St. Teresa of Avila statue inside the Notre Dame

Notre-Dame, of course!

Stained Glass window inside Basilica of St. Denis

I don't have a picture of the outside of the church because it was raining when we were there.

In the St. Denis Crypt

Such good lil' doggies at the feet of the little girl on the sarcophogus (sp?)

I love my Gastgeber (host)!

I watched my first World Cup game (Germany vs. Argentina) on Friday night. Biggi brought her little TV out to the patio and we set up a little outside viewing area. Germany won in overtime! We decided to celebrate (Warum nicht?)! Pineapple, starfruit, mango, kiwi, strawberries and champagne--sehr lecher! I felt honored because this is a family tradition Biggi's family has for New Year's Eve, birthdays and special occasions and I got to participate in it. Lucky me!
Biggi was happy Deutschland won! She is so much fun to laugh with! We've had lots of fun together this past week. She is definitely a beautiful blessing in this whole experience!

Views of the countryside from the castle. Amazing!

Classic!

Again, a picture says 1,000 words! This was the group for the day (plus me, of course!) And in good form we were two historians (Reformation and Medieval) and two theologians (Philosophical and Systematic). Hee, hee! We're nerds in line to see the Wartburg! "Luther, Luther! We want Luther!"

The Lutherstube (Luther's room)

Here is where Luther is said to have lived and worked on his German New Testament. People have been making pilgrimages here for some 300 or more years. I felt very Protestant seeing it for myself! ;-)

Wartburg!

It was a beautiful day and we hiked up here from Eisenach after lunch. The castle is known for many things, which we found out on our tour (although the woman spoke very fast and we caught only the smallest bit of what she said) and with which I will not bore you. However, you should know that we were interested in it because Luther spent about a year (1521-1522) here under "house arrest". During this time he translated the New Testament into the German language.

Traditional German lunch- Mmm? (ps: not eaten by me!)

A Mighty Luther Statue stands in Eisenach

Now this is actually a German statue I'm interested in!...